A Regular Trilogy Book 2: Lost Hearts
by HMC4shroom
Summary: Part 2 of the Trilogy follows our immortal yeti as he is thrown into a mystery that he might not even be able decipher alone. A thievery and a man.
1. Prologue

_**I am finally starting to post my second book! It is still in the works, but I will post what I can so far. I've also begun the final book to the series as well. As soon as the blockage of my mind bulbs gets fixed, I will start posting more stories too. **_

_**I don't own anything, but the story idea. All rights goes to natural owners. **_

**Prologue **

_In the still of the night, _

_I held you, held you tight, _

_'Cause I love you, love you so, _

_Promise I'll never let you go, _

_In the still of the night (in the still of the night)... _

How many times had he heard this song since it came out in the 50's? He couldn't remember. Hmph! Kind of ironic in a way. He'd been alive for so long that his mind could recall any event in history and every single detail about it since he became immortal. Each moment up to a minute of it happening, yet he can't tell you how many times he heard it play.

He downed his soda and asked the bartender for another. "Troubles chief?" he asked as he poured the man another glass.

"Nah. Just celebrating before going back to work next week, Death," said the man in a deep, throaty voice as he took his drink and sipped a little. The skeleton stared at his customer for the sarcasm, then dropped it.

"So what place you going to work at now? Hunts? Madam Winnters?"

"I'm going back to work at that park, again."

"Maellard's park? The one built on a historical battlefield to mark their history?"

"That's the one." The big man drank down his soda and laid it back down on the counter. Death was about to reach for it to refill it, but the man waved it away and shook his head. "I can't deal with any more tonight." Death takes it away. The man gives a sigh. "It doesn't quite give me the buzz like alcohol used to, but I do have a tolerance to how much I can stand."

Death grinned at that and it was very rare to see the skeleton smile. Especially at this particular man. "Okay, what do you have planned?" The bag of bones looked back at the man and shrugged with a 'I don't know what you're talking about' innocent look.

"I know that face, Death. Do you know something that's going to happen to me? I know you've been after my soul since forever, but you ain't getting me any time soon." The man stretches as he stood and took out his wallet. "It'll be 15 for the sodas right?" he asks as he puts down money.

Death nods and watches the muscular man start to head for the door then started giggling. "What?" the man asks as he stares back.

"Are you sure you want to go back to the park? And at this particular time?"

"You can try to scare me all you want, but like I said, I've been around for a long time. You got nothing on me. I'll be fine like always." Then the big white yeti exits.

Death grins devilishly, "We'll see, Skips. We will see."

_**Prologue done son! I'm sorry my brain is all *Spits razzberries*, I can't spell. **_

_**MG: Guess who else is back bitches! **_

_**Me: U Promised you wouldn't do this this time! **_

_**MG: I crossed my FINGERSSSSSS!**_

_**Me: Ohhhhhhhh... **_

_***In the still of the night- The Five Satins**_


	2. Chapter 1

_**Two in one night yay! All rights to their original owners. I hope you like!**_

**Chapter 1 **

Being immortal has it's downsides as much as ups. Sometimes it feels like a movie watched over and over again. You have your typical birthdays, though don't exactly age in looks. You're always the same appearance. And you're always saying bye to the people you've grown fond of or close to. You never see them again. Time can't go back to that one moment you were happy. You can only move forward in that infinite loop of life and death.

But Skips never truly cared about that. He rather liked seeing history unfurl before his eyes. He liked meeting the new generations of different people, though they get odder as centuries pass. He loves to learn about the new things they discover. If he'd never been immortal, he'd never had known how well man could progress.

_CRASH!_

"AWWW! Come on Dirk! Get with it! That's the third flowerpot today!" shouted the manager of Docent's Flower shop. _Or how more clumsy they've become,_ thought Skips as he drove past.

He stops at a red light and lets out a sigh. Just a few more blocks and he'll be at the park. Then he will have a conference with either Mr. Maellard or Herman to talk over how long he'll be staying to work this time. He doesn't usually like staying long there. Sure he was friends with the current manager, but the lion seemed to just complain mostly. And as for Maellard's son Pops, he felt that they had more of an acquaintanceship than anything else. Don't get him wrong, he had helped and worked with the family for many years, but he never really felt close.

And it wasn't just the Maellards, it included each and every family he has ever worked for. He was more of a man of few words and little to say. He's always been that way. He liked being that way. It was rare for him to actually enjoy hanging with people that were mortal other than his family of, uh, descendants of his first brothers and sisters?(Hey! Don't ask me about details!(% &#!) -_-'). Even when he was still mortal, he chose seclusion then socialization. It was just in his nature he guessed.

It doesn't mean he's a total loner. It's tough to have mortal friends. Some are interesting, yes, like that Einstein character. What a hoot! He just hated parting sometimes. He had gone through many, sure, but...it's not as easy as someone might believe when they've had so many years under their belts. No...it's never easy. And it _never_ gets any easier neither. And being close to someone he might even love who is mortal, such as...

A honking was behind him as he looked up and saw the light turning from yellow to red. Oops! He let his mind wonder too much. He looked in his rearview mirrors and saw a bunch of angry honking cars. He did a hesitant heh, heh embarrassingly and sat back focusing on the light this time waiting for it to change again.

Once it turned he quickly without passing the speed limit got out of the way while some cars drove past him with mad expressions on the drivers. After his little space-out he made sure to keep his mind on driving. He got to the park with no trouble and parked his Volkswagen in the usual place in front of his shack. _Home sweet home,_ he kidded himself.

He skips his way through the park to check it out. It's been at least 11 years since he'd been gone. A lot more green had grown since then. It turned out to be a lovely day too. Maybe he'll stay a while longer this time.

He comes upon the same old house he's known for awhile, the one that had housed the Maellards for some time before they started making dough from turning the place into a park and allowing rent for many different businesses. It's kind of amazing this place was ever a battlefield.

Skips skipped up the stairs and opened the door, but the door flung open too quickly and smacked the wall. _Hard._ All he could think of as he cringed at the sound was that Herman would probably have him adjust the hinges as his first assignment. Then he heard a groan from between the door and the wall. He automatically was thinking that he accidentally hit Herman or Pops, but when he stepped inside and moved the door away from the wall, he saw it wasn't one of the two.

The man slipped to the floor as skips pulled it fully away and pushed it shut. Skips shrugs at the guy and starts skipping to and up the stairs to Herman's/ Mr. Maellard's office. He noticed the stranger staring at him as he went, but he believed it was at the fact he was skipping instead of walking and just chose to ignore the gaze.

The house hadn't changed much, maybe a few new pictures that might've replaced old. He finally gets to the office and knocks on the closed door. "You can come in, it's open," said a familiar voice inside. Skips does so and right away is greeted by a big lion. "Well! Welcome back buddy!"

"Hey Herman. You're the new park manager huh?"

Herman blushed. "Yeah you know...Someone had to take the job to help poor Pops out after Leon quit. You weren't here so I stepped up to the plate."

"Looks like it suits you so far."

"Nah, you can have it. After all it was meant for you."

"Heh, I couldn't. It's just not my thing."

"Well, that's something we need to talk about." Herman ushers Skips to have a seat and they both sit down. "Listen Skips, things aren't going too well here nowadays. We don't have as many people coming around like we used to. And we don't have enough workers out there to get all the jobs done on time each day. So, Maellard wants me to ask you to stay a bit longer this time."

He thought about it. "How long we talking?"

"Um, keep in mind this was not my idea, but Mr. Maellard has asked me to tell you that he wants you to stay this time." Skips shakes his head immediately no, but then stares at the guilty look Herman was giving and waits for the lion-man tell him what was the matter. "I know that you don't like to stay in one place for so long being immortal in all, but Maellard says-"

"So what if Maellard says? The other contracts I have won't allow me to stay here and work for his family forever."

Herman rubs the back of his neck. "Yes they will. Maellard has paid off every contract the families have on you and has destroyed each and every one. Your only contract is with this park. I'm sorry."

Skips sighs and stands up. He then skips out into the hall and starts for the stairs. He hears Herman running up behind him shouting his name and stops. "Skips, hah, hah," he says breathlessly, "I know you're angry about this, but trust me! We could really use your help this time-"

"I know that," Skips says surprising Herman. "I was going to my shack to get my tools so I could fix that loose door." He then goes down the stairs and out the door to head to the garage of his shack, which was apparently his new permanent home by the sound of it.

_**That's all I'm posting for tonight, but I shall post soon. I can't wait to read your reviews. **_

_**MG: Read...**_

_**Me: ...Oh! And Review? **_

_**MG: You suck... **_

_**Me: I didn't know we were going to do that. Sorry...**_


	3. Chapter 2

_**New chapter! All rights to official owners.**_

**Chapter 2 **

Skips had asked for a list of more jobs while he had his tool belt out. With admiration Herman gave him a list of at least three other things that needed work on. He started with the pluming and cleaned out all the pipes. Next he fixed the clogged fountain. There was a racket ball caught in it. Probably stuffed in there by some smart-alecky teenager.

Lastly was the park's truck that was already parked in his garage. The brakes needed fixing, the oil needed change, the tires needed replacing, etc. To put it blunt, it was a disaster. But Skips just sighed and began working on it.

It was late in the afternoon by the time he was half way done with fixing it. He was leaning over the engine with the hood up when he heard footsteps coming up behind him. "Well hello Skips! Welcome back!" He turns around to see Pops Maellard looking happy as usual and that guy again.

"Hey Pops, how are you?" He says as he faces them completely.

"I am well Skips. How 'bout you my good man."

"I'm swell," Skips said a little sarcastically.

"Wonderful! Good show, jolly good show!" Pops shouts enthusiastically, oblivious to the sarcasm. "So Skips, I know that you are probably busy and want to settle in a bit, but I was just too ecstatic to wait. I would like to introduce you to my new friend here." Pops puts his hands on the guy's shoulders and pulls him in front of him. "This here is Benson. He's only worked here a few weeks, but he is an excellent worker such as you. I was thinking you two would get a long great with one another."

Skips stares at the gumball machine. He felt a little unease about the guy and he knew he felt the same way about him. But since he was going to work here for a long time he would have to get along with this worker, so it was best to put on a smile and try to be his friend or whatever.

"Hey, I'm Skips," he says as he cleans his hand then extends it to the automaton. Benson looks at the hand then at the yeti's smiling face. Then slaps his hand away surprising Pops. "Oh! Benson, what's the matter? Why'd you hit away our friend's gesture of a formal greeting?"

The gumball machine huffed and turned to leave. "Benson? Hey, wait up!" shouted the old lollipop-man. Benson gives one last glance back with a glare in his eyes and said, "I don't like him." Then he walks off.

"Oh dear," mumbles Pops, "I haven't seen him act like that before." He looks back at Skips. "My sincerest apologies Skips!" Then he heads after the automaton.

The yeti watches them till they were out of his sight, then looked down at his hand. It had turned a bit red from the hit giving it a little raw feeling. "Hmm," he thought, and went back to working on the truck.

He was able to finish it before it got too dark and was proud of his work. He then gets the garage closed and heads out to the house for dinner. As soon as he opened the backdoor to the house that connected directly to the kitchen he was met by the guy again except he was angrily tapping his foot.

"Hey, how's it going?" Skips tried to smile at him. The gumball machine-man continued to stare madly. Skips sighed. Maybe this guy just wanted a proper apology for being hit by the door and only getting a shrug. "Listen, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I would like to say sorry for hitting you with the door-"

"Shower." That caught him off guard. The guy pointed toward the living room but was meaning up the stairs by the looks of it. "Go get in the shower upstairs and get cleaned off. You look like a freakin' grease monkey." He looks down at himself and saw what he meant. He had a lot of oil stains on him and even tracked a little inside.

"Heh, heh, guess I need one, huh?" he tried the joke. Benson's face turned red and pointed harder in the same direction. Not wanting to make him fume anymore than he was he skips past him and up the stairs to the upstairs bathroom.

He closed the door and took off his main clothing that consisted of basically pants and underwear. After he got them washed off in the sink he hopped into the tub, closed the curtain and turned on the water. He had to lather, rinse and scrub hard to get all the mucky oil out of his hair and fur.

After he finished he turned off the faucet in enough time to hear the door close. He slightly pulls the curtain away to see, but no one was there. _Whoever was in here just left,_ was Skips guess noticing the new pants and underwear on the counter where his recent clothes were. He shrugged and got out. He toweled off and put on the clean clothes.

He throws his used towel into a hamper and skipped to the kitchen. His three co-workers were already sitting at the table eating beef stew. Herman was telling a joke to Pops making him giggle uncontrollably while Benson ate in silence.

Herman notices the yeti right away and tells him to take a seat. He starts to sit down between the lion-man and Pops but decides to pull his chair over by the silent eater. He next grabs himself a bowl of the stew and settles in. He tries smiling at him again only to get a stare. Skips let go of trying to seem friendly to the guy and just dug into his food.

He switched seats after awhile when he was sure that he'd be getting nothing at all from him and joked with Pops and Herman. He told them about what he's done over the years and about the places he has seen(or re-seen(O3O')IDK). They enjoyed every moment of it. He was just getting into another story when Benson stands and walks his empty dishes to the sink, cleans them, then heads toward the front door.

"Oh, Benson, you're going home?" Pops asks as he stands up to catch up with him. He watches the two walk out and shut the door behind them. "So what's up with that?" he asks the lion.

"With what?" Herman asked.

"Pops following that guy like a puppy-dog."

"Oh right, I notice that too, but not like that. He's just worried for Benson there. You see, when I hired him and brought him to the park he looked like he was beaten bloody. Pops had been all over him like a concerned mother and worries for him ever since."

"So you just hired a guy off the street with no knowledge about his past?" Skips smirked.

Herman cringed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well when you put it like that, you make it sound as if I did something totally stupid."

"It was stupid."

Herman was taken aback. "Why do you say it like that? I felt bad for him and decided to give him room and board. Plus, he proves himself to be a great worker. Maellard even approves of his work ethics. And as for Pops, well, he's usually very happy to see people, but he sticks to Benson more than he ever has done with anybody."

"I don't care what everyone else's opinion of him is. I care about mine and it says this guy is trouble."

"If you just give him a chance, I'm sure you'd like him."

"I already have given him the chance. If he doesn't see me as an ally, that's his problem. As for me, I don't like him either." He stands up and takes his bowl to the sink and drops it in with a splash. "I'm going to bed, g'night." Herman follows after Skips thinking there was still the chance to change the yeti's mind, but was stopped by the muscular man. "By the way things went today, I bet the most I'll ever get out of this guy is a rival. Can you settle for that?"

Herman sighed and nodded. "But I don't want to see any fist fights if your 'competition' between each other gets out of hand, got it?"

"Mmm...No promises."

_**MG: If they got into a fist fight, who would win? Benson or Skips? **_

_**Me: The answer would be unknown. Skips is a brain and brawns kind of guy, yet Benson is stubborn, small and quick on his feet. The yeti has strategic thinking and reasoning. But where Benson lacks that, he acts on impulse and instinct. However, sometimes their personalities swap, then Benson becomes the negotiating type and Skips becomes the irrational type.**_

_**MG: Hmmm... **_

_**Me: Hmmm... **_

_**MG: Read, **_

_**Me: Review. And if you want to share your opinions of the Skips vs Benson question between me and MG, feel free to state your feelings on it.**_


	4. Chapter 3

_**New chapter! *All rights go to their people!**_

**Chapter 3 **

He got up early the next morning and went straight to the house to see if Herman or Pops was up so they could give him something to do. If not he'd go ahead and work on his own. He had a few things that need to be done around his shack anyway.

"What the-?" Skips said as he came to the park house. He saw that man sweeping the porch. By the way it looked, he has been at the park since before Skips had gotten up. But why? Why so early?

"Ahem," he tries to get his attention. Benson looks at him. "Um, hey there, uh, Benson right?" He nods. "Okay. So, is Herman up yet?"

"No. Neither is Pops. They probably won't be up for another hour or so," Benson says as he continued to sweep. "So why are you up early?" Skips was uneasy about being asked the question he was about to ask. It was like they were playing chess and this guy was trying to read his moves.

"I was just wanting to know if they had anything for me to do because otherwise I was going to work on my shack." Benson shrugs at him and checks over the porch satisfied that it was clean then went inside. Skips skipped inside as well figuring he might as well get some breakfast while he was there.

When he got to the kitchen he noticed a note on the table with a list of jobs. He goes to the cabinet and grabs a bowl and a box of cereal and picked out a spoon from the utensil drawer. He then sets his stuff down and pulled over a chair.

As he began to eat, he watched Benson come in and grab up the list and checkmark it with a pen. Then he studied the next chores on the list and went to go get the needed equipment. Seeing the paper gave Skips curiosity enough to wonder what he had next.

He picked it up and saw that next was to clean the downstairs bathroom. Then the list ran through other jobs on the first floor, then the basement, then upstairs, then the attic. He seriously wasn't going to do all of these, was he?

"What are you doing with my list?" Benson asked as he took it out of Skips hand. "And why are you making that face?" He hadn't even realized he had been making a face, but quickly shook it off and went back to eating. He raises an eyebrow at the yeti-man before walking off.

He watched him go then gulped down the cereal that was in his mouth. "Oi!" he grunted. He'll admit that he was impressed about how determined he was. But the reason he made the face a second ago was because of the handwriting. It wasn't Pops or Herman's handwriting so it must of been him. Now Skips could have just not been there when it was made, but when it all added up in his head no matter what he knew that the list was made by Benson.

His words from last night suddenly haunted him. _Maybe we _are_ rivals,_ he began to think. He cleaned up after himself, then headed out to his shack. He re-shingled the roof, re-plastered the holes in the walls, and replaced a window.

When he finished, it was about ten o'clock. He grabbed a water bottle from the cooler that was still in his Volkswagen and drank. Then he looked for Herman and got some more jobs he could do.

As he worked he noticed the very few people that actually walked through the park. They ranged from just little kids and then jumped straight to the old couples. No one really came to the snack bar. The football fields remained empty, thus did the other fields in the park. It was kind of hard to see.

By the time Skips realized it was lunchtime, it was obvious that not many other people will be seen today. When he stepped into the living room after making a sandwich he saw Herman sitting on the couch punching numbers.

"We bankrupt yet?" Skips asks kind of jokingly and fearfully.

"No, but close." He grits his teeth then sits down next to the lion-man. "I don't get why that old man doesn't just give us the money in the downtimes."

"Because this was something Pops wanted to make so there was a place everyone could enjoy. He's trying to teach his son business handling," explained Skips.

"Yeah? Then why am I paying for it?" the lion grunts. The yeti punched the lion's arm harmlessly as a way to tell him to loosen up. The big cat smiled at him then packed up his paper work and the calculator and went upstairs.

After Skips ate his sandwich, he headed back out. He'd finished all the jobs that he was assigned and made the effort to scan around for anything else that needed to be done. Not finding anything to do he went back to the house to check the golf cart they use to travel around the park. It was in good enough condition that it didn't need anything fixed.

Sighing he starts a long bored trek home. _Too bad there aren't many people around to pick up after or to serve at the snack bar,_ he thought. To be stuck in a job at a place that's already done for wasn't exactly what he planned. Ever. And what happens when this place really does hit the dust? He doesn't have any other place to work at anymore. Maellard took care of that. He'll have to apply to a whole new job.

But it's been too long. As far as he goes with technology these days you still signed contracts and you'd work there until retirement. Or death? He shook his head. _I'm reading too deep into this. I'll be fine. I always am. _

**_MG: Fricking Rivalries! Why can't we be friends? _**

**_Me: Don't you dare start singing! _**

**_MG: _****Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?**

_**Me: Barg! Read and review please. I'm sorry for slow updates, but school has started again and my mind is elsewhere...**_


	5. Chapter 4

_**Hi everybody! New chap. ready for ya'll. All rights to their rightful owners. **_

**Chapter 4**

Inside his "house" he put on some weights onto the bar then laid down on the bench and lifted the bar up and over then up and down. He started out counting how many he was doing, but then his mind wondered back to his maybe employment issue.

It was odd that of all times it had to be now that Maellard would choose him to stay. The park has had worse. And like Herman said, surly he wouldn't let the park go into dept. Pops would be devastated and he never likes to see his son upset. Sometimes he likes it when other people suffer, but-

Skips kept going with the weights, but it started getting more fierce as the last thought stuck in his head. Is he letting this happen so he can watch them squirm? And as for the contracts, was that so he could watch _him_ wriggle? Would he really do that? Would he? WOULD HE?!

"THAT SONOFABITCH!" he shouts and hefts up the bar with a hard thrust and it slipped out his hands. It went flying up into the ceiling. As it came back down, he quickly rolled forward(not exactly the smartest of moves mind you-) out of the way as it smashed into the bench.

He pants hard while looking at the mess from over his shoulder. _That could have been bad,_ he thought. Then looking up at the holes in the ceiling then the ones on the floor he huffed and stood. Brushing himself off he heads into the garage part of his shack to get tools to fix his mess.

As he fixed it he began rethinking his thought.I know the family. I know Maellard. Some of them including him were twisted in a way, but nothing like this. It seemed too ominous that a person could change like that. Though it's true it can happen, it couldn't be.

Sanding down the new wood to make it even and smooth he was almost thankful to have made the holes in the first place. At least it was something to do. He was sad that it was finished quickly. But he couldn't help being a fast fixer.

_Speaking of finished..._Skips curiously pondered. He skips out into the park and looked all over the park to find that gumball machine. If he wasn't done with his job list, then he could ask to help thus getting to do something and perhaps try again to make at least a truce between them. He wasn't too partial to it, but Herman would get on his case and keep asking about it even if not in words.

He spots Pops over at a bush, trimming them up. "Hey Pops!" He shouts to him. Pops looks over and waves at him. He then runs up to the yeti-man. "Evening my good man! Beautiful day today, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Listen, have you seen, uh, Benson?"

"Why yes! He's mowing the grass at the fields." Skips nods and heads off to check which one. He didn't notice Pops following till he spoke up. "Why did you need to know?"

"Oh! I, uh-"

"Do you perhaps want to try at being friends with him?"

"I just wanted to see if he needed help with anything."

"Well then let's go find our good friend!" Pops grabs Skips' big right arm and pulls him along. They checked each field then found him on the football field, but it looked like he was done with mowing it. He was just sitting on the mower slouched with his feet up and his arms behind his head.

"Hello Ben-" Pops began to say but was caught by Skips. He told him to be quiet. They walked a little closer and Pops saw why he was told to keep quiet. Even though his eyes were open, they looked up into the sky distantly.

_What's he thinking about?_ they both wondered. Stepping a bit nearer Skips noticed his foot tapping in a rhythm and his lips were parting in words. But he wasn't talking. He was singing. And as they came up behind they heard the quiet song he was singing _in French. _

_Je suis l'eau qui dort, et le roseau qui plie, _

_J'ai le calme tranquille de la douceur des nuits _

_J'ai la patience immence et le fil du passé _

_Et j'ai les mains tendues pour prendre et pour donner _

_J'ai en moi la vie, j'ai en moi le feu _

_J'ai en moi la tempete de celui qui veut _

_J'ai en moi la vie, j'ai en moi le feu _

_J'ai en moi la tempete, si je sais qu'on est deux. _

He suddenly looks over and sees the two staring at him. Blushing a bit, he sits up quickly. "Uh, I'll just be on my way." He starts up the engine, but Pops speaks up before he starts to leave.

"But we came looking for you!" he shouts over the roaring mower. Benson turns it off. "Why were you looking for me?"

"Skips wanted to see if you needed help with your chores." The gumball machine raised an eyebrow at the yeti. Then shook his head. "Oh, why not?" asked Pops.

"Well for one, I'm already done with everything." Skips knew he was telling the truth just by the tone. He was intrigued by how fast he could get through it and tried his best to hide an impressed smile.

"Oh! That's brilliant Benson! How about we all go out then while the night's still young! After all, we need to welcome back Skips to the park. Let's go tell Herman!" Then he starts to head to the house leaving the two to awkward silence. To Skips relief Benson starts the mower again and drives off to put it up. He then follows toward the direction in which Pops headed.

_**MG: Wait! What was he singing? And why FRENCH?!**_

_**Me: Les Aveux sung by Elton John because I like it. I don't have the English lyrics on me right now, but I will edit this chapter when I do. And I know the chapters are short, I'll try to fix that and not just make fillers in the disclaimers. Read and Review please.**_


	6. Chapter 5

_**I 'est SOOOOOOOO sorry about the wait! GOMENASAI! But now here's to the next chapter!**_

**Chapter 5 **

It took little effort to convince the lion-man to let them all go together. However, he wanted to pick the place. Everyone agreed as long as he drove and paid(XD - Herman's face). They piled into Herman's car and he took them to a simple restaurant called Of All You Can Eat.

The other three were astounded by the interior. For an all you can eat buffet, it wasn't very big, but had many features to it. It had a few tables, booths mostly for watching football or whatever other sport, a bar/ food bar, and a back room for pool, poker, and other games. It was amazing to think it could all fit in the place.

"Whelp! Go find us a seat, and I'll go grab soda," said Herman. They part in different directions. The three pick out a booth and sit. The lion sets down their drinks on a spin table and turns it. "Alright! Russian roulette! Everyone close your eyes!" As they do he explains the rules to them. "One of these cups of soda has a lemon in it, extra sour. Man with the lemon has to eat it, fruit _and_ seeds and skin. We pick out and drink on three. Ready? One, twooooo, three!"

They all open their eyes and grab the drinks as the table kept spinning. They clink their drinks chanting luck be with you. Then they all took a drink. Immediately Skips makes a puckered face. _Crap! _he thought, _guess I got it!_ He then looked at the others to see if they were smirking at them, but they all had puckered faces too.

"OHHhh! It's so sour!" shouted Pops.

"Blegh! It's disgusting!" yelled Benson spiting a bit of the drink back into the cup.

"Gahh! The bartender was right to be careful with the lemons!" Herman complained.

"So, who has the lemon?" Skips nearly gasped. The others stared at their drinks not wanting to try it again, but the yeti figured what the hell. He downs his drink quickly then as his mouth puckers once more he looks into his cup. No lemon. He raises his glass in victory.

Herman and Pops clap. Benson grunts, licks his lips and downs his. Looking into his he found no lemon either. He raises his glass. Pops giggles and drinks down his finding no lemon and raises it.

They all turn to the lion-man with evil grins. He nods at them sadly scared and drinks his. When it's all gone he holds it out to the others to see. No lemon vacated the bottom. "Hey, what gives?" they all say.

Now it was Herman's turn to grin. "I actually had the lemon juiced into all of our cups then chopped it into three pieces. That made only one good cup left. And being we all had our eyes closed there was no telling who would get the pieces. But it looks like I lucked out. Though I never imagined that all three of you would swallow them down. Kind of beat the purpose of the game."

As the three made gag noises, Herman laughed as he thought of something funny. "Heh, heh, maybe I should start calling you guys the Three Lemon Friends!" But as he was talking, Pops and Benson sat on either side of him and pinned his arms. Skips came back after skipping to the food bar with three _whole _lemons.

"Uh, you're joking right? Right?!" The trio each picked a lemon. Their faces went dark and demonic as they laughed wickedly. "No, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Herman screamed as each person placed their lemon into his mouth and made him chew and swallow.

/

"How are you holding up Herman?" Skips asked the lion as he played pool with Pops. With his face totally puckered within itself, the most he could do was give a thumbs up. Feeling sorry for Herman they decided to wait to eat, at least for awhile. Thus they played in the game room.

Benson chose to play the pin-ball machine for a bit. When he got bored, he headed out to the booth and sat down after he got another soda, _un_-soured. During the end of the game, Skips noticed Pops watching him. He probably was thinking about why the gumball machine secluded himself. The yeti would usually keep out of stuff like this, but this one time he thought he shouldn't.

Getting his angle right. he knocks out the rest of the pool balls and calls game. "Oh!" says Pops as he returns to what they were playing. "Well, you've got quite the ability for this table of pool."

"Yeah, sure." Skips twirls his stick in his hand. He then looks out at the booth. "Hey, you play winner?" he asks. Benson stares at him then looks away and sips from his glass. Skips turns his back toward him and sly taunts, "Alright, if you're too much of a _lemon-._" The gumball machine's glass hits the table and he stands up quickly. He then rushes over to the yeti and takes the stick.

They set up the balls in the triangle and get them even. The two battle it out within two minutes with Benson winning the round. Skips was a bit impressed. Wanting a rematch, he picks a different game and challenges him. Then it suddenly became a tournament between them and all Herman and Pops could do was watch.

When Herman's face finally un-puckers he calls a time out so they could all eat. Big mistake was what he realized as the two warring men started making food challenges. They went from timed eating to spicy foods to drinking condiments. They caught an audience as they went on. When they were full they ran back into the game room.

The lion quickly came up behind them before they picked a game. "Please, just one more game. Okay? Just one." He releases them after they nodded their agreement. Since Skips won the last game making them tied, he got to pick. As he looked around, he spotted something in the corner and said they'd play it.

He skips up to the foosball table and chooses his side as Benson gets to his. He places the soccer ball in and gets scored on right off the back by him. Surprised, the yeti-man glares at the smirking automaton. He drops the ball back in and goes on offense. However, each of his moves got blocked.

"How can you be so good?" he asked.

"Well, it's actually no different than-" Benson began then stopped entirely. Without knowing, the ball goes into his goal shocking him. Even though he scored one, Skips didn't cheer for himself. He was too busy wondering about his opponent's sudden change in attitude.

He then starts laughing quietly. "I'm tired how 'bout you?"

Skips just goes with it and agrees. He didn't know what happened for the guy, but he didn't want to press him. They let it stay a tie then they go and tell Herman they were ready to go.

Pops and Benson sat in the back while Skips occupied the passenger's seat. The old lollipop-man had gotten drowsy and fell asleep against the gumball machine who did not seem to care. After they pull up to the house, Herman winds up having to pick up the sleeper and carry him in and to bed.

Skips watched Benson as he went to the garage and pull out a bicycle. "Why a bike?" he asks.

He shrugs. "I don't have enough money to get a car _and_ keep my apartment, yet." He then flips his leg over and sits down. "It's an ok transportation. I just wish it wasn't so killer on my right knee."

Skips smiles and holds out his hand. "Good night, and thanks for battling me." Benson stares at it and almost reaches out to grab and shake it, but then backs off. "I can't. I can't be your friend. I don't want to be your friend or anyone's friend. Never again." He then rides off leaving the yeti with his hand still out. Sighing, he just heads to his shack and called it a night.


	7. Chapter 6

_***All rights to proper owners!**_

**Chapter 6 **

Parking his bike against the wall of his apartment, he wobbles to bed lazily laying his stuff on the living room table. He plops down on top of the soft covers and berries his head in the pillow. He then flips onto his side as he thought about playing the foosball game.

As he thought about it, memories began flooding into his head. The different faces of his past made him tear up and he draws up his covers and tries for sleep. The memories haunted him from his thoughts to dreams and subconscious mind. He curled up tight into a ball as he found that slumber would be near impossible that night.

* * *

As Skips walked up to the park house the next morning, he felt something different in the area as if something were missing. When he walks in, he was surprised to see Herman up and about so early. Even Pops was up already. He seemed a little worried as he stared at the lion-man on the phone. "I see. It's okay, we'll be fine. You've been working hard enough anyway, you could use a break. Hope you come back in soon. Uh huh. Alright, bye."

He hangs up the phone and sits next to Pops on the couch. The yeti could already guess what was going on. "He's not coming to work, huh?" The big cat shakes his head.

"I wonder whatever's the matter," Pops says.

"All I got out of him was that he didn't feel well," Herman begins. He runs a hand through his mane and huffs. "This is just too weird. He seemed fine last night. What happened?"

Skips gave his usual shrug, but he had a reason that could be why he didn't show up today. He had a peculiar reaction when they played that stick game. Like something snapped inside him. Possibly a bad memory.

Pops stands up. "Well if we don't know for sure, we should go see."

Herman looks unsure, but Pops mind was made up. He passes Skips and goes outside and down the porch. The lion stares at Skips for a minute then the yeti sighs and goes to ask Pops for him to come too.

To his surprise, Benson's apartment was a bit farther than he thought. And it wasn't exactly the best looking of apartments either. Of course neither was it in the top worst. It was five stories high and was caught between two other apartments, one decent looking four story building and the other a hardly inhabitable looking five story with a torn billboard on top of the roof.

He follows Pops into the building and up the flight of stairs. They climbed all the way to the top floor and then turned a corner. The lollipop man walks up to one of the rooms at the end of the hall and knocks.

They didn't get an answer right away, so he knocked again. They heard someone shuffling to the door and then it opened. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?! I TOLD BERN HE'LL GET HIS MONEY NOW BACK OFF!" The antelope-man then slammed the door in their faces leaving Skips looking dumbfounded at Pops who was near tears and was whimpering from the scare.

"Pops?" came the familiar voice of our good friend Benson across from the door they mistakenly knocked on. Seeing the shaking lolly-man he quickly invites them in and leads them into the kitchen for them to sit down.

As soon as he was seated, Skips shook off his shock and tried to help Benson calm down the poor man. Then he noticed Benson's attire and cocked an eyebrow. He was wearing an apron with paint stains and flour all over it and himself. "What, you stay home for your hobbies or something?" he accidentally slipped past his lips.

The gumball machine gave him a stare then a glare. The yeti practically kicked himself for blurting out his mind. He tried to apologize immediately, but the smaller man turned his back to him and headed out of his apartment. Making sure Pops was settled and fine he goes outside the room too.

He looked down the halls on the top floor with no luck then tried the stairs that led to the roof. He didn't have troubles spotting him. He sat to the side of the edge of the building and was staring out over the city. Skipping closer he realized the guy was staring at the park, a little ashamed.

"Hey," Skips started out, "I didn't mean it like that. It was stupid of me to even say it. I'm sorry, I didn't realize how much you'd overreact."(OOooo...Wrong choice of words! XD)

Benson's face went red. "Overreact?! You basically called me a lazy, good-for-nothing in my own home and say I overreacted? Unbelievable!" He looked away from the muscular being and stared out at the park again.

_Well shit, _Skips thought. _I guess there's a reason I don't talk much to anyone._ The gumball machine-man then huffs, returns to his natural color and stands up. "Well, I don't want to leave Pops in my apartment alone. I'd hate to see old Roy yell at him again."

Skips watches him go feeling guiltier than ever and follows. When he reached the bottom he saw Benson standing in the hall as if brooding over something. Then he faced the yeti.

"I'm sorry. You're right, I overreacted. I just can't control my anger sometimes and it beats the hel-uh-heck out of me. I accept your apology if can forgive my behavior."

The yeti-man was stunned by this sudden change in attitude. This man had seemed like the type that stayed distanced from other people for the past two days he knew him. But now it was if this man was trying to ease the tension that had been made between them. This guy was tough to read. And even more to understand. He had seen many people like him countless times over the years and they always wound up the same. However, this case seemed different.

He accepts the apology. Then he smiles at Benson and puts out his hand for a shake. The gumball machine looks back and forth from the hand to Skips sincere face. He starts to bring his hand up, but places it gently against his chest and looks away sadly. "Still won't, huh?" He shook his head no.

He then sniffs and a look of shock crossed his face. "Crap! I forgot about the scones!" They both run back to his apartment and into the kitchen. To Benson's relief, Pops had taken them out of the oven and had helped himself.

"Why, hello again my friends!" he says after he swallows. The two sigh and Benson goes to his fridge as Skips sits at the table with the lollipop-man. He then joins them and sets down some sodas and a jar of jelly.

Pops had apparently found his plates and silverware so he didn't need to get up again and dipped a butter knife into the jelly jar. "You guys want some jelly too? It's strawberry." The cheerful as always lolly-man nods. Skips takes one of the little cake-breads and lets Benson put a little of the jelly on. He looks at it a little iffy since he wasn't too big on pastries, but taking a bite made him change his mind.

"This is amazing!" he says to the Benson. He just looks away embarrassed as Pops nods his agreement. The yeti saw him blush and giggled a bit which made him laugh a bit too. Hearing the laughter they were making got Pops excited and then he started laughing uncontrollably in his usual manor.

They stayed with him for a while and only pressed once the question of why he decided to stay home. He said he didn't feel good since last night and hadn't gotten much sleep because of that. Pops easily accepted that and dropped it. Skips, however, knew there was more to it, but chose not to pry.

As they were driving back to the park, the yeti thought more about Benson. Trying to puzzle out the mixed emotional man. He's seen and met plenty of people in his life and has understood that most are unpredictable when it comes to feelings. They would snap or breakdown at any moment or, in Pops case, have an ecstatic outburst of joy.

Benson had snapped, but quickly changed to the feeling of sorrow for what he did. There were a billion reasons that could explain his actions, but none of them felt like the right answer. Heartbreak? Bad memories? Fear of something? No answers he could come up with would fit the whole mystery behind him.

**MG: ****_More like all of the above ,Skips. _**

**Me: ****_Bizzzt! Bizzzt! Wrong-OH! It gonna be more complicated than that!_**

**MG:****_ Say whaaaaaat?! _**


End file.
